Finalists announced for the 2021 CAMX Award

The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX, Dallas, Texas, U.S.) has announced the finalists of the eighth annual CAMX Award, sponsored by Composites One (Dayton, Ohio, U.S.). The CAMX Award recognizes two innovations that will significantly impact composites and advanced materials. The award is divided into two categories that, according to CAMX, embody the spirit of the expo — Combined Strength and Unsurpassed Innovation.

The Combined Strength Award acknowledges a composites product that solves a problem through teamwork and collaboration, and the Unsurpassed Innovation Award celebrates a product that incorporates low-cost materials for high-volume applications, and that can change the outlook of a particular market.

Finalists for the 2021 Combined Strength Award:

• Composite Panels for Structural Fire Protection Onboard Ships; Ayres Composite Panels (Theodore, Ala., U.S.)
• TrinityRail 72-Inch Refrigerated Boxcar Floor; TrinityRail (Dallas, Texas, U.S.) (see CW’s feature on this project “Refrigerated railcar floor expands composites horizons”)
• Sustainable Composites are “Taking Off” in Additive Manufacturing; Braskem (São Paulo, Brazil)
• Plataine Practimum-Optimum: A Breakthrough AI Algorithm for Optimizing Production Scheduling; Plataine (Waltham, Mass., U.S.)
• Carbon Fiber Forged Wheel for Automotive; Vision Composite Products LLC (Decatur, Ala., U.S.)

Finalists for the 2021 Unsurpassed Innovation Award:

• ​​​​​​3D-Printed Molds for Carbon Fiber Hand LayUp Process; Roboze (Harris County, Texas, U.S.)
• World’s First Integrated Automated Kitting Cell; Airborne (The Hague, The Netherlands)
• Advanced Acoustic Metamaterial; Lios (Sligo, Ireland)
• Crosstrack Raw Material/Kit Location/Life Tracking with Integrated CNC Cutter Nesting and Scheduling; Jetcam International s.a.r.l. (Monaco)
• Mechanical Metamaterials: Lighter, Stronger, Multi-Functional Core Materials; Multiscale Systems (Worcester, Mass., U.S.)
• Direct Melt Impregnation Thermoplastic Composite Line; Cygnet Texkimp (Wincham, England)
• Highly Automated Resin Transfer Molded (RTM) Wing Spoiler Production System; Spirit AeroSystems (Wichita, Kan., U.S.)
• Weight Savings and Processing Innovations with Tapered Double-Double Laminates; M.C. Gill Composites Center, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.)
• Elegant Technology Extends Automated Fiber Placement Access to All; Heraeus Noblelight (Cambridge, U.K.)
• High-Volume Structural Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Injection Molded ETP Composite; Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials (Lenzburg, Switzerland)
• Massivit 10000 — Digitalizing Composites Tooling with Advanced Additive Manufacturing; Massivit 3D (Lod, Israel)
• Innovative Holemaking Process In Woven Composite Laminates; North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, N.C., U.S.)
• PUPI Fiberglass Transmission Crossarms; Geotek (Stewartville, Minn., U.S.) and Pupi (Stewartville, Minn., U.S.)
• The Proprietary 2k Ambient Temperature Curing Technology; L&L Products (Romeo, Mich., U.S.)
• The Vanguard System — Individual Tow/Position Closed Loop Tension Control; Montalvo (Gorham, Maine, U.S.)

For more information on the 2021 CAMX Award, visit https://www.thecamx.org/awards/.